Australia bushfires: Pregnant firefighter defends decision to fight fires, saying: 'I don't care if you don't like it'

A young pregnant firefighter has defended her decision to continue fighting bushfires raging across Australia, saying: "I don't care if you don't like it."

Kat Robinson-Williams, who is 13 weeks pregnant, posted several images of herself - and a video of her fellow New South Wales Rural Fire Service colleagues in action - on Instagram.

She wrote: "For all the females on the ground in NSW right now. We stand together, we stand proud!

"Yes I am a firefighter, no I'm not a man, Yes I am a female, Yes I am pregnant, Yes I am going to the fires, And yes I'll be alright, no I won't just stay behind."

She also posted a photo of her ultrasound showing her 13-week-old baby, saying: "Little firefighter in the making."

The firefighter received support on social media with people thanking her and describing her as a "legend" and "amazing".

She told the BBC she wrote about her situation on social media because some friends had told her to stop firefighting.

Her GP had also told her it was okay to continue as long as she wore the right equipment, she said.

More than 150 bushfires are continuing to rage across the Australian east coast in the states of New South Wales and Queensland.

New South Wales, where families have been evacuated and more than 300 homes destroyed, has declared a state of emergency.

In recent days, flames have stretched from the state's north coast to within metres of homes in Greater Sydney, amid "catastrophic" high winds and searing heat.

On Wednesday, Oscar-winning actor Russell Crowe posted images and videos on Twitter of firefighters tackling a blaze near his property near Nana Glen, an inland rural community, north of Sydney in NSW.

The 55-year-old Hollywood superstar said the property had "lost a couple of buildings", some fires were still burning and "we are out of water."